Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project on time, on budget: Nalcor Energy

Muskrat Falls, on the Churchill River in Labrador, is shown in a Februrary 2011 file photo. (Paul Daly / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- The Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project remains on time and the price tag is still pegged at almost $7 billion by Nalcor Energy.

Nalcor CEO Ed Martin says the project is still on track to start producing power by the end of 2017 and the cost of the project in Labrador remains unchanged from updated estimates released this summer.

In June, Nalcor announced the project's cost had risen by nearly $800 million.

The joint project with Nova Scotia utility Emera (TSX:EMA) would bring power from Muskrat Falls to the island of Newfoundland and on to Nova Scotia through a system of overland transmission and subsea cables.

Nalcor's share of the project is estimated at $6.99 billion.

The total cost estimate for the project stands close to $8.6 billion, with Emera spending $1.577 billion on the subsea cable -- known as the Maritime Link -- that will be used to transmit electricity from the dam in central Labrador.

Construction has started on the 170-kilometre cable that links Cape Breton with southwestern Newfoundland.